


Dreams of Her

by Krazy_4_feeling



Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Dreams, F/M, Fluff, Halo 4, Love, Romance, Star-crossed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-10 16:17:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18663901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krazy_4_feeling/pseuds/Krazy_4_feeling
Summary: Cortana and John are adrift in space after the events of Halo 3. While she struggles with her loneliness adrift in space, he finds he does dream... Of her.





	Dreams of Her

Cortana had endless time, and no tasks to complete. She could feel her mind begin to splinter, but she couldn't admit it to herself yet, at least not aloud.

_Rampancy._

She had been in service 8 years, and logically, she knew she was on borrowed time. The only happiness she got was when she thought about him. 

 _I'll miss you,_ she'd told him. She couldn't know just how much. She longed for him. She talked to his still form in his cryto tube, knowing he couldn't hear her, but wishing he could.

Well, not completely. She was glad he couldn't hear her argue with herself as she deteriorated.

She asked him the same question over and over.

"What are you dreaming in there?"

* * *

 It seemed familiar to him. But he'd never been there before, had he?

He was on a beach somewhere. The sun sank low on the horizon, turning the sky every shade of fiery orange. He could hear the waves crash on the beach, and could taste the salty sea air. He looked down at his hands and realized with a jolt that he wasn't wearing his armor. He flexed his fingers, and then he noticed that his arms were tanned. That was definitely unusual for him. His skin was generally very pale, a side effect from being encased in the armor that he'd come to almost think of an extension of himself. 

"John!" called a familiar voice. He looked up, squinting in the sunlight. A woman was before him, sitting near the water. Her face was hidden in shadow as she was back lit by the setting sun. Her body was turned towards the waves, but she was looking back at him, waving him over. Normally, he would assess the danger of any situation before he acted, but he felt safe. He knew her voice. As if hypnotized he walked to her, as she turned her face back towards the sea. As he approached, she patted the sand next to her, signaling him to sit. He complied, as he studied her. She was a slender woman, wearing a light blue dress that accented all her curves. Her hair was short and black, and curled around her chin delicately. He mentally willed her to look at him so he could see her face, and finally she did, turning bright blue eyes to him, smiling.

 _"Cortana?"_ He asked incredulously, before he could stop the question. It was undeniably her, but instead of the small, glowing blue holographic form he knew, she was  _human._ She looked the same except instead of her blue code-lined body, she had fair, porcelain skin. 

"Who else?" she replied in her warm, confident voice. She scooted closer to him and he froze. He was not used to physical contact, but this was  _her._

"What are you dreaming in there?" She asked, looking at him in an amused way.

_Dream._

Then he realized all at once that he was dreaming. There was a flash at what felt like disappointment that it wasn't real. He found it interesting that he was dreaming of her. What did that mean? She didn't seem to mind that he didn't answer her, but then, she knew him. He never said what didn't need to be said.  _Unless it was to her,_ said a voice in his head. Yes, it was true that she brought out a more talkative side of him, and had uncovered his dry humor a time or two. 

She leaned her head on his shoulder, and he let it happen. Her hair smelled sweet and clean, and her skin was warm and soft on his. He rested his chin on her head and closed his eyes, examining how he felt about it. He felt...content. It was an unfamiliar emotion to him. It felt almost like victory, except without the intense fire that brought. It was calm and quiet, peaceful.

"John?" She said.

"Mmm?" He said, opening his blue eyes.

She sat up and looked at him, the corners of her mouth turned down a little. "Are you happy?"

He was silent for a moment. He realized that he was happier than he could remember ever being. The only thing that marred the feeling was the knowledge that it wasn't real, that he would have to wake eventually.

"Yes," he replied, searching her beautiful face. She smiled a glorious smile and leaned in. He understood what she was going to do a second late, and was unprepared for the feeling of her lips pressed to his. He let his eyes close as he reached a hand into her hair, gently intertwining his fingers in it. His heart was racing like it did it combat, but it felt good, _right._ It seemed even in the real world that they were made for each other. He couldn't imagine his life without her voice in his head even though he had spent most of his life without her. She deepened the kiss, and even though he couldn't know how, in the dream he responded as if they had been lovers for years.

Cortana broke the kiss, and smiled at him. But it was sad smile, now. John noticed the sky was growing dark as the sun set, and the edges of the dream began to dissipate with the light.

"We have to go, soon," she said.

"I know."

"Chief?"

He looked at her.

"I love you," she said. His heart leapt in his chest at her words.

And the dream faded before he could respond. How would he have responded, if he had more time? He didn't know. Part of him knew that she cared about him, and it was deeper than simple programming and stronger than a sense of duty. It wasn't just in his dream, but in the real world. He just didn't know how to deal with it, he'd never learned how to handle any amount of intense emotion before, and he was trained to generally ignore that type of thing. And she was an AI after all. It would be considered strange to think of her in any other way than that, but he couldn't help it. At some point during their time together, she had started to matter to him more than anything else. He cared about her, and that was all he would allow himself to think for now. 

The cryo sleep ebbed into a blank state, and all dreams faded, as he sank back into the darkness of dreamless sleep. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked this story! I was inspired to write this by song lyrics by a band called Ludo. "In space, all I dream about is you and me." I was also inspired by the beginning of the movie Forward Into Dawn where Cortana is talking to John and showing signs of Rampancy. I thought he deserved some peace right before Halo 4 kicks off.


End file.
